More than 100 confirmed dead as violence continues in Damaturu, Nigeria

Nigerian authorities have revised upwards their estimate of the number of people killed in Damaturu over the weekend. It’s now believed that more than 100 people lost their lives as Islamic militants launched a series of attacks, including shootings and a number of explosions.

The Islamic Boko Haram is believed to be responsible for the killings, which continued on Sunday as a police officer in Maiduguri was shot dead. The area is Boko Haram’s spiritual group. The militant Islamic faction has instituted Sharia law in many parts of Nigeria’s north, and wants to spread this influence to the south.

Both the UN and the Vatican have called for an end to the violence that has been plaguing Nigeria for years, and which has really ratcheted up recently. The Nigerian government, meanwhile, is under mounting domestic pressure to send the military into the north to deal with Boko Haram once and for all, a move that could trigger an all-out civil war.